Movie Review-"Daybreakers"
Is there anything left to be said in the vampire genre?
We’ve had sexy vampires, teen vampires … even vampire assistants.
“Daybreakers” takes the basics of the vampire mythos and concocts a fresh new story around it.
The new film sags in the middle and doesn’t fulfill its early potential, but it’s a solid genre entry with a few glorious splatter scenes sure to be watched in slow motion by gore hounds once the film arrives on DVD.
Ethan Hawke stars as Edward, a hematologist working in a near future when a vampire plague has swept the world. Less than 5 percent of the population still has a pulse, which means the food supply is running low.
It’s Edward’s job to find a blood substitute to keep the undead … undead.
A group of humans, led by a recently re-humanized rebel (Willem Dafoe) may have a cure to the plague. But plenty of vampires, including the wicked head of Edward’s company (Sam Neill), don’t want to give up on immortality.
“Daybreakers” opens with a series of nifty dialogue-free sequences which get viewers caught up on the clever premise. It’s exhilirating filmmaking from the Spierig Brothers, the duo who wrote and directed the picture.
And Hawke, an underrated actor, underplays the tension Edward faces as someone whose sympathies remain with humankind despite his own vampiric form.
The trouble begins when Neill’s character vanishes from the scene and we’re left with the human rebels. It’s rare to see Dafoe stink up a big screen, but here he’s saddle with awful dialogue and the ultimate character cliche - he loves Elvis Presley.
Yawn.
The rest of the script isn’t kind to his fellow actors.
“Life’s a bitch and then you don’t die,” Edward says, and the line is so bad it’s hard to believe a mutiny on the set didn’t result.
But whenever “Daybreakers” faulters, it manages to rally with a cracling action sequence or a graphic moment which pops off the screen without any 3-D trickery.
“Daybreakers” could have been a classic vampire reboot with a smarter script and a more charismatic enemy. Instead, it’s more proof that the vampire movie is as flexible as a gymnast - and just as fun to watch
We’ve had sexy vampires, teen vampires … even vampire assistants.
“Daybreakers” takes the basics of the vampire mythos and concocts a fresh new story around it.
The new film sags in the middle and doesn’t fulfill its early potential, but it’s a solid genre entry with a few glorious splatter scenes sure to be watched in slow motion by gore hounds once the film arrives on DVD.
Ethan Hawke stars as Edward, a hematologist working in a near future when a vampire plague has swept the world. Less than 5 percent of the population still has a pulse, which means the food supply is running low.
It’s Edward’s job to find a blood substitute to keep the undead … undead.
A group of humans, led by a recently re-humanized rebel (Willem Dafoe) may have a cure to the plague. But plenty of vampires, including the wicked head of Edward’s company (Sam Neill), don’t want to give up on immortality.
“Daybreakers” opens with a series of nifty dialogue-free sequences which get viewers caught up on the clever premise. It’s exhilirating filmmaking from the Spierig Brothers, the duo who wrote and directed the picture.
And Hawke, an underrated actor, underplays the tension Edward faces as someone whose sympathies remain with humankind despite his own vampiric form.
The trouble begins when Neill’s character vanishes from the scene and we’re left with the human rebels. It’s rare to see Dafoe stink up a big screen, but here he’s saddle with awful dialogue and the ultimate character cliche - he loves Elvis Presley.
Yawn.
The rest of the script isn’t kind to his fellow actors.
“Life’s a bitch and then you don’t die,” Edward says, and the line is so bad it’s hard to believe a mutiny on the set didn’t result.
But whenever “Daybreakers” faulters, it manages to rally with a cracling action sequence or a graphic moment which pops off the screen without any 3-D trickery.
“Daybreakers” could have been a classic vampire reboot with a smarter script and a more charismatic enemy. Instead, it’s more proof that the vampire movie is as flexible as a gymnast - and just as fun to watch
posted by Ron Futrell at
5:21 PM
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